CYCLE 8-9

Topic: 

Introduction to Recycled Art

Goal:  

 Value art with reused materials.

This are some famous or interesting artists who use recycled materials. El Anatsui (bottle caps/metal), Robert Rauschenberg (found objects/combines), or artists who create sculptures from plastic waste.

What makes one of El Anatsui's bottle cap hangings valuable? Is it the caps themselves, or what the artist did with them?

 This helps shift their perspective from "junk" to potential.

APK:  

List things you or your families throw away regularly (cereal boxes, old homework, bottle caps, magazines, water bottles, broken toys).

-What's one thing you recycle at home that you think could be used to make a cool texture or pattern in art?

-What are the benefits of recycling things instead of throwing them away?

New information: 

-Collage: (From the French coller, meaning "to glue") A technique of art creation, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.

-Eco-Art/Environmental Art: Art that addresses environmental issues or utilizes the environment in its creation.

-Assemblage: A 3D version of a collage—a sculpture made from found objects.

Few basic techniques you can useto make a collage:

• Tearing vs. Cutting: How tearing paper creates a soft, feathered edge.

• Layering: How to build depth by overlapping.

• Text and Image: Using the words/headlines in magazines as part of the visual message.

Application: 

Start collage with recycled paper. Practice with the simplest, most accessible material.

Materials: Old magazines, newspapers, discarded wrapping paper, junk mail, cardboard scraps, glue sticks, scissors. (Emphasize that they should look for color, texture, and interesting text.)

Example Theme: "My Impact" (a landscape or portrait made of recycled materials that shows their favorite place or activity) or "A New World" (a fantastical creature or setting).

Generalization: 

Did this lesson change how you look at the paper in the recycling bin? Why or why not?

Biblical Integration: 

We connect our lesson on reusing materials to the Bible by looking at Genesis 2:15:

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

This verse gives us a job description from God: we are called to be stewards of the Earth.

Your collage project is a mini-Garden of Eden, and you are the steward. You are responsible for every scrap of paper you use, making sure that instead of becoming trash, it becomes something valuable and new. This act of transformation shows respect for God's creation, from the smallest piece of paper to the largest natural resource.